Canoe paddle



May 26, 1931. H. B. HERRING CANOE PADDLE Filed Dec. 19, 1950 Patented May 26, 1931 PATENT OFFICE .l

HORACE BELL HERRING, OF MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE CANOE PADDLE Application filedY December 19, 1930. Serial No. 503,562.

The present invention relates to improvements in canoe paddles, and has more particular reference to certain improvements over the device described and illustrated in my j copending application, Ser. No. 480,491, iled September 8, 1930.

It is an obj eet of the present invention to provide an improved construction of coupling piece between the handle of a canoe l@ paddle and the blade thereof, in which the transmission of strains will take place more eectively and in which the joint will be stronger and more rigid.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved canoe paddle, in which the handle is joined with the blade by an improved coupling piece so constructed and designed with reference to the handle that such handle will receive adequate support throughout the extensive area thereof, and in which the connection between the handle and joint will be made quickly and expeditiously while the removal of the parts is facilitated.

With th-e foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will be more fully described hereinafter and will be more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the drawings, wherein like symbols refer to like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, j

Figure 1 is a front elevation of my con plete paddle showing the parts in thev as! 35 sembled position.

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical section, with the parts in the disassembled position and with parts broken away.

Figure 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 4o of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a top plan view of my improved coupling piece, and

Figure 5 is a bottom plan view of the same.

Referring more particularly to the draw- 45 ings, 10 designates the shank and 11 the handle, while 12 designates a collapsible or other blade. Such blade may be of the construction illustrated and described in my co pending application aforesaid.

50 The improved coupling piece is constructed of a body 18 of metal or other appropriate material having an elongated tapered socket 14 at one end and a pair of divergent slots 15 at the other end, such slots being designed to receive the arm-s 16 of the blade. These arms are preferably so disposed that they must be 'sprung into the slots 15, in whichV they are held by the set screws 17. p

N Ow, the coupling piece is formed with a narrow intermediate neck 18 which flares out in substantially conical form toward the upper end of the coupling piece. The coupling piecealso flares downwardly from this neck to provide ample space for the slots 15, which slots are formed in tubular portions 19, such 65 tubular portions being connected by a web 20. Preferably, all of these parts of the coupling piece are made in one casting, in which casting there is an intermediate part of the web removed to provide a space 21, such space 7o being formed in a crotch between the enlarged portions 19 which house the slots 15. Preferably, a flat wall 22 is provided in this removed portion for receiving thereagainst the nut 23. This Vwall 22 has considerable Z5 breadth in order to form an abutment for the nut 23, and the thin web 20 extending from the lower edge of the cut-away portion 21 enables easy access to the sides of the nut from below the socket piece, whereby the fingers or a tool may be used to rotate the nut.

The nut 23 is run upon thelower threaded end cfa bolt 24, which end extends through an opening 25 made in the coupling piece from the base of thesocket 14 to and through the 85 abutment wall 22 of the cut-away portion 21. Preferably, the threads upon Vthe lower end of the bolt 24 are machine made to cooperate with `the nut 23 while the threads upon the upper end of the bolt are of the ordinary wood 90 threads screwed into an elongated recess 26 in the lower portion of the wooden shank 10. This shank 10 isv formed, as to its lower end portion, in a tapered arrangement 27 to conform to the exterior tapered form of the 95 socket 14 of the coupling piece. A shoulder 28 formed between the shank 10 and its tapered end 27 is adapted to take aga-inst the upper end of the socket 14, and a blunt eX- tremity 29 at the lower end of the tapered part 100 27 is adapted to seat upon the flat base 30 of the socket 14.

In the use of the device, the paddle, built up as shown in Figure 1, is employed in the ordinary way to propel a canoe or other water craft. This paddle may be disassembled and folded in the manner indicated in my prior application. For the purpose of folding the paddle, the set screws 17 may be removed and the arms 1G of the paddle blade 12 removed from the coupling piece, or the nut 23' may be screwed olif the bolt 24 to permit the handle to be withdrawn from such socket piece; or both blade and handle may be removed from the socket piece, as indicated in Figure 2. The part-s may be thereupon folded into small compass and may be readily reunited again when -their use is to be resumed.

T he engagement of the shoulder 28 with the enlarged outer end of the socket 14, and engagement of the blunt end 29 with the base 30 of said socket, as well as the extensive contact of the tapered or conical part 27 with the inner "all of the socket 14, combine to form a strong and rigid structure, whereby the handle and the coupling piece mutually reinforce one another. rl`he parts are firmly held in this position by the bolt 24 and the nut 23, which fasteuings, however, admit. of the parts being readily disassembled.

The nut 23 is also easily accessible while also protected by the laterally enlarged intermediate portion of the coupling piece. This nut 23 is protected, as shown in Figure 3, while at the same time, it is readily accessible from beneath by reason of the thin web 2O which, as indicated in Figure 5, leaves the side face portions of the nut free to be readily grasped by the ngers of the operator, which slip along opposite sides of said web 20 and upon the nut faces at opposite sides of the cut-away portion 21.

1t will be obvious that various changes in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts could be made, which could be used without departing from the spirit of my invention, and l do not mean to limit the invention to such details, except as particularly pointed out in the claims.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. in a. canoe paddle., a handle having a shouldered shank portion with the blunt end and an exterior recess, a bolt lying in said recess and extending beyond the blunt extremity, a. coupling piece having an elongated tapered socket to receive said shank portion and provided with a flat perforated base to receive thereagainst the blunt extremity and to admit therethrough the projecting end of the bolt, said coupling piece having a cutaway portion below the socket base to receive the projecting end of the bolt, a nut lying in such cutaway portion and threaded on the projecting end of said bolt, and a blade carried by the coupling piece.

2. 1n a canoe paddle, a handle having a tapered and shouldered shank portion, a bolt carried by and projecting from said sha-nk portion, a coupling piece having a socket to receive said shank portion and a perforated base through which the bolt is adapted to proj ect, slotted enlargements extending down in said coupling piece from the base of the socket, a thin Web connecting said slotted enlargements and having a cut-away portion adjacent the crotch of the enlargements and communicating with the perforated portion ofthe socket base to receive therein the projecting end of the bolt, and a n-ut lying in such cut-away portion and removably threaded on the projectingend of the bolt.

HORACE BELL HERRING. 

